Rise of a Highlord
by Doomspawn52
Summary: The Death that claimed Zul'deras was not so permanent. Now that he has awoken in Acherus, the Death Knight must learn to wield his formidable powers and carry out his master's will.


Well this is exciting...The first chapter to the first fanfiction i've ever written. This isn't beta'd yet and likely isn't error proof so hopefully you guys will understand. Feedback is always appreciated as this is once again my first story. Zul should be having even more fun soon enough.

Chapter 1: The Hour of Rebirth

"All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance- I bestow upon you, my chosen knight." As the Lich King uttered these words a Death Knight awakened and beheld the darkest being on Azeroth. "I have granted you immortality so that you may herald in a new, dark age for the scourge. Your old miserable existence among the living is done, and it is only fitting that you receive a new name, one more fitting of your dark rebirth. You shall be Zul'deras, and you will bring doom to anyone who dares challenge me.

Gaze below us at the pathetic Scarlet Crusade, for too long they have tasted life. They must be destroyed to make way for dominion. But all things in time, first you must learn to wield your newfound powers. Go and see Instructor Razuvius, he will forge you into a weapon more powerful than any other."

"As you command", Zul'deras replied with a new voice, one full of cruelty and darkness." Zul'deras was puzzled in that he could no longer feel any emotion or will. Serving the Lich King seemed like his only purpose, and he would fulfill it.

As he slowly walked around the Necropolis he looked around and saw nothing but Death. Ghouls ran rampant, feasting on the flesh of any living prisoners. Mounds of corpses were scattered in every direction, slain just as Zul'deras had been. Had he still been alive the stench would have been overpowering, but it did not bother him. In the corner of his eye the Death Knight saw an abomination lumbering around. Seeing him, the abomination started to speak. "You Death Knight? Sorry but Corpulous out of tasty treats." After he said this several ghouls carrying a cage with a human woman walked by. Corpulous's larger eye widened and he launched a filthy chain with a hook on the end through the woman's heart. "On second thought, food back on the menu". Zul'deras stared blankly. While he was alive something like this would have bothered him, but he could not see anything wrong with it anymore. "No thanks abomination, I have some training I must complete". With that Corpulous sighed and lumbered away.

An agile skeletal creature climbed down a wall and picked up the corpse. It had a hood over its head and only one eye was visible. A tattered noose surrounded his neck. Whatever scourge creature that was, Zul'deras had never seen one before. "That'd be a geist Death Knight" a hollow voice replied. Zul'deras turned around to see a skeleton forging a weapon. "The name's Siegesmith Corvus, if you need any weapons or armor come see me, but I think the Instructor will have it taken care of". Zul'deras looked at him and replied "This is all a little new…but I think I'll get the hang of it quickly enough". He figured he might as well get back to his main task, to find this instructor.

He finally found the Instructor coated in armor that seemed to emanate frost. As the Death Knight approached he watched the instructor look down at a body female tauren on the floor. "I've woken up to a nightmare…havn't I?" she said as she shook from the cold. Razuvius turned to a necromancer and stated "This whelp got resurrected a few minutes too early eh? She can still feel emotion, the worthless bitch. End her", the instructor commanded. The necromancer cast a dark spell and three of the many corpses littering the ground rose as ghouls. They began devouring the tauren alive, and as she died she let out a piercing scream that could be heard all throughout the Necropolis. No one would even bat an eye at the sound, including Zul'deras. He wondered how many times this had happened before. "Instructor", Zul'deras said coldly, "Are you quite done" the undead troll softly stated. "Yes yes, your training begins here. I'll forge you into a weapon worthy of The King's will. If you are to make it at all as a Death Knight you need to understand the basics of your dark powers. But first, we must find you a suitable weapon. Turn your gaze over to those weapon racks over there and pick something nice."

The troll walked over and gazed at possibilities. "All of these are worthless", he muttered under his frozen breath. He settled for a sword covered in dried blood. "Yeah most of these blades are garbage but luckily we have the tools to fix that", Razuvius told him. "Behold, this is what is known as a runeforge. They are extremely rare, only found within places such as Acherus. The Icecrown Glacier has quite a few as well." The machine was decorated with skulls. Pipes pulsing with foul energies provided the runeforge with a mystical blue fire. Zul'deras could sense its power. Spikes protruded from this foul contraption. The Death Knight placed his blade into the forge and instinctively knew what to do. He reached out his arms and summoned the darkness of the machine to temper his blade. A circle of runes appeared at his feet while he casted the spell and in a discharge of malevolent energy the blade was greater than it once was. The hilt had a pair of wings and in its center rested a terrible pale blue eye. Blood red runes adorned the blade and the weapon's shape seemed to take on a certain wickedness. This was a weapon fit for a knight of darkness.

The instructor began to speak: "Now all that remains is to use the runeforge once more to apply powerful enchantments and even more runes to your already formidable blade. You will find that your instrument of destruction and you are intertwined, and although your blade is similar to that of many other Death Knights, yours will begin to communicate with you, bringing out your terrible attributes and using its will to provoke you into even more depraved acts. You must learn that this weapon is not merely a tool but an extension of yourself. You often hear crap like that when most people talk about any kind of weapon but in this case it is quite true. One cannot exist without the other, a delicate balance between you and this cursed weapon must be had. Trust in nothing but your weapon and the Lich King Death Knight, and you will be kept strong." Zul'deras could already feel the blade speaking to him in feelings desires and emotions, corrupting him. But it did not matter. As long as the blade protected him the death knight would obey its will.

Zul'deras approached the runeforge once more and emblazoned his runeblade with several enchantments to bolster its effectiveness in combat. As he reached out with his new weapon he knew that something akin to this is what his king must feel. "At last, my arm is complete" Zul'deras yelled. "Good Death Knight, now listen. Our abilities lie within the domain of three elements. Death Knights have power over Blood, Frost, and the Unholy. Blood…is life. By rending your foes and having you and your blade consume the blood of the innocent and powerful alike, you will find your energies replenished. This in particular is what your weapon has an insatiable hunger for. It will call out to you to spill as much as you can. Frost manipulates the coldness of the elements to chill your enemies and protect you. The essence of frost is the essence of loneliness and harshness, the living do not know it but they are so alone and worthless. You yourself are imbued with a great deal of this coldness. Your dead skin is a pale blue, your breath is forever visible and chilled. Your eyes are the greatest example of your relationship to this power. They glow blue with this ability. All who gaze into them know exactly what you are. Finally, the Unholy is what we are most known for I assume. The power over a darkness so black that it eclipses all, even that of life itself. This is what allows us to desecrate life so, and resurrect the dead. We are immortal because of this power even though we are dead. The shadow gives us many abilities and oftentimes will manifest itself without you even noticing. The plagues we create often have a darkness to them. Some will wield the light against you but know this, the light is only an illusion of power. Darkness is true strength, and the deeper you follow it, the greater you will become. Enough talk, I can already feel you want to test out your new weapon. Here is the perfect opportunity. Focus your attention to the center of the pit in the middle of this room, as you will see many Death Knight initiates we have found to be…unworthy. They are still here only because they can test those that aren't worthless such as yourself. But the Lich King is only interested in the strong. Here's the deal. Take this key, it will work only once to undo the shackles of darkness on any one of these failures. You will fight to the death, and if the initiate wins they get to take your place. If you lose you'll end up like that tauren we just butchered. So Death Knight, sound like fun?"

"Nothing would satisfy me more", Zul'deras said with a malevolent grin. He walked down into the pit and surveyed the captives. "Which one of these pathetic living corpses will be a worthy adversary?", he wondered aloud. He looked upon a night elf. By gazing into this man's eyes Zul'deras could tell he had seen his fair share of conflict. "I release you now, come then, prove that you deserve the Lich King's gift more than I do worm", Zul'deras taunted. The Night elf's shackles fell to the floor. He walked over to a box with all of the gear the scourge had given him. "I will win my freedom and leave this cursed place!, Let your fears consume you!". "I no longer have anything left..." Zul'deras softly replied. The night elf lunged at him but Zul'deras quickly parried. He had not fought in a while and wondered how his dark powers would manifest themselves. Suddenly the blade gave him a feeling. Zul'deras activated the blade and it responded by chilling his opponent. By unleashing a rune from his blade certain abilities could be used to augment his fighting ability. The night elf winced in pain and the troll noticed his adversary's attacks were slowed. He also knew that he had just placed a disease within his opponent with that attack. _Frost Fever_… a voice in his head replied. Zul'deras hungered for more and could feel his blade urging him to unleash darkness. He felt the darkness inside of him, and his blade reacted, instantly unleashing the power of a rune. Zul'deras's body moved by itself, his muscles instantly forced themselves to attack and this strike unleashed the power of shadow. _Blood Plague_… the voice told him. Two diseases now plagued the Night Elf, but his opponent was a death knight as well, and mimicked his attack. The disease seared his body. In life this would have caused him a great deal of pain. The troll could still feel pain as he had in life, but it no longer stopped him. _Blood Strike_ the voice commanded and as he unleashed another two runes Zul'deras instantly retaliated with two gruesome strikes. His body was a work of perfection as it spun to deliver these lethal blows. They had spilled an excess amount of his opponent's blood, and Zul'deras relished being covered in it. His blade gave him a sense of pleasure. It was time to end this petty skirmish… _Death Coil _the voice commanded. Zul'deras felt the darkness within himself and launched a green bolt of pure death. His opponent dropped his weapon and fell to the ground. He was alive but could no longer move his body. "A failure in death as well as life…how pathetic. But don't worry, you'll soon have a use", Zul'deras whispered. The troll grasped his opponents' weapon and decapitated him. The elf's head rolled into one of the walls of the pit. Zul'deras sheathed his weapon and plunged his opponent's blade into his back, using it to carry him. He walked over to the head and picked it up, staring into the lifeless eyes of his former enemy. He strolled over and dropped the body with the sword still in it in front of the abomination. "Here's another Corpulous, and take the skin off this head, I want to keep the skull," Zul'deras commanded. "Whatever you says master" Corpulous grunted as he stored the corpse on a spike nearby.

Zul'deras had passed his first test. Already he felt the fullness of death. He felt his blade congratulate him. The Death Knight stared at the ceiling of Acherus…his death was just beginning.


End file.
